Okay, people, I'm only going to say this ONCE:
Science: explains how things happened.
Bible: explains why things happened.
One does not, I repeat, does not necessarily negate the other.
The Earth is older than 6000 years old, as scientific evidence has been fairly conclusive in this area. Creating the Earth with dinosaur bones already there for us to dig up is, at best, deceptive on God's part. That is not part of His nature. Not of my God, anyway.
The concept of the Big Bang does not pose significant ideological difficulties with the Judeo-Christian concept of the origin of the Universe. Both create something out of nothing. I genuinely don't understand why this is an issue.
The idea that humanity arose out of a lineage of ape-like creatures that subsequently migrated around the globe doesn't mean that there wasn't a point in history where a single, unique individual (or pair of individuals) emerged that acted as a tipping point in the development of the species. Because there probably was. And the whole ape-thing explains so much about so many people!
The details of Genesis are a creation myth. Yes, a myth. Quit getting your knickers in a knot.
The definition of the myth is:
a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation, esp. one that is concerned with deities or demigods and explains some practice, rite, or phenomenon of nature.
Face it. It's a myth. God probably didn't make the world in six days.
The PURPOSE of creation myth is less about explaining how the world came into existence, and more about explaining the relationship between humanity and God.
The fact that this relationship happens to be explained in the setting of the dawn of time (a story that long existed in the Jewish oral tradition before ever being committed to paper, recorded by an individual who I would assume have very little knowledge about modern physics, archeology or anthropological cultural development) is a detail that far too many people get mired down in.
You have to look at the big picture.
God made the Universe. God made the Earth. God created humanity in His image. God smacked his forehead in frustration as we messed it all up.
The mechanisms by which God accomplished those tasks are explained, in part, by science. He created the natural order that science has uncovered and explained eloquently in it's own language. The same God-created order that you deny by your assertations of, "well, the Bible told me so".
Okay, I'm done. Carry on.
::end of rant::
Excellent post, Carolyn. I am pleased to "meet" you.
ReplyDeletenatalieushka,
Atheist friend of Not Jenny.
I just realized that I have read your other blog, and passed it on to my SIL, who is dealing with pervasive gross motor delay, seizures, and severe food allergies with her little guy.
ReplyDeleteI like what you have to say and how you say it.
Whew... thanks guys. For awhile, I was afraid that I might have come off as a raving lunatic. Which I guess I kinda was, but in a good way. Ignorance annoys me.
ReplyDeleteWelcome Natalie! Glad to "meet" you too!